Spirit Awakening Ritual

To be honest.

Grandiose platitudes were hard for anyone to like.

Even the people who spoke those words themselves were often the same.

Take Pei Zhizong, for example.

As the Patriarch of the Pei Family and one of the family's pillars.

Though he did not particularly enjoy these overly ceremonial, tedious proceedings, whether for the sense of ritual the family required or the need to leave a deeper impression of the Pei Family on all the outsiders, at a time like this, he still had to say a few presentable words.

It was a necessary gesture.

However.

While he had to speak, how long he spoke for was entirely up to him.

After talking for a brief few minutes.

Pei Zhizong quickly chose an appropriate moment to stop, no longer continuing with those empty courtesies.

That way, the audience would not find it unbearably long and stinking.

Instead, he smiled and addressed the banquet attendees:

"Next, as one of Black Stone City's great families, our Pei Family shall uphold our longstanding fine traditions. We will randomly select fifty fortunate children from among those present to undergo the Spirit Awakening Ritual free of charge. Any children who wish to participate may raise their hands..."

The moment those words were spoken.

The commoner children and their parents, who had long been eagerly awaiting this, all lit up.

For a moment.

Hands rose all at once.

Each hoping to be chosen.

Even Ling Wuyuan, who was merely there to watch the spectacle, became a little more serious.

But he truly was only there to watch.

He did not raise his hand.

After all, he was merely a beggar who did not even have the right to sit at the table...

The so-called Spirit Awakening Ritual was, in this world, a special ritual specifically used to awaken a child's potential.

Normally, once a child had undergone the baptism of the Spirit Awakening Ritual, they would at the very least become much healthier than before, allowing them to grow more smoothly. Even the innate bones required for cultivation would change to a certain degree, becoming somewhat better.

Besides that.

If their luck and aptitude were good enough.

It was said that the Spirit Awakening Ritual could also awaken certain special potential or special constitutions within the recipient, granting them strange powers.

Of course.

That was merely an extremely low-probability occurrence.

As far as Ling Wuyuan knew, the odds might not even be one in a hundred thousand. Even in a large city like Black Stone City, with several hundred thousand permanent residents, it would take many years before a lucky individual successfully awakened their special power after undergoing the Spirit Awakening Ritual.

However.

Even without mentioning that minuscule chance of awakening special powers.

The mere fact that the Spirit Awakening Ritual could allow its recipients to grow up healthier and make them somewhat more suited for cultivation already made it an exceptionally precious ritual.

Even if it took several months of hard work just to barely scrape together the cost, many ordinary parents would still rack their brains to hold a Spirit Awakening Ritual for their children.

However, aside from earning money through their own efforts.

For many commoners, whenever some great joy occurred within the major families or powerful factions, it was also a good opportunity to obtain a Spirit Awakening Ritual—and one far more reliable.

Whether to flaunt their power or to bestow generosity far and wide...

Most factions with considerable strength did not mind occasionally giving the common people a few small favors.

This was especially true of factions with fixed territories.

Bestowing a little kindness upon the surrounding commoners was greatly beneficial to their rule.

Trading a few small favors for the good name of being charitable was never a losing deal.

Two minutes later.

After an exceedingly casual selection process, Pei Zhizong had finished choosing all fifty recipients.

Though the selection was random, due to various considerations, around twenty of the slots actually came from the same direction—the direction where the family members of Pei Family servants stood.

People ultimately had their own selfish motives.

Pei Zhizong did not mind giving the servants' families a few opportunities.

As for the remaining thirty slots, those really were chosen at random.

Whoever pleased his eye got one.

He simply stretched out a finger and pointed wherever he pleased.

Just as he had assigned all the slots and was about to have the family members begin the Spirit Awakening Ritual.

He suddenly noticed that the little girl beside him was looking rather strangely toward a certain spot in the distance.

After a moment of surprise, Pei Zhizong followed her gaze.

Before long, amid the crowd numbering in the thousands, he saw the person the little girl was watching.

It was a somewhat strange little beggar.

The strangeness here did not mean that he looked strange or dressed strangely.

Though his grimy appearance made it difficult to see his features clearly, his facial features were certainly well-proportioned.

As for those ragged beggar's clothes?

Though tattered and old, quite a few beggars on the streets dressed like that.

Thus, what Pei Zhizong found strange was actually the little beggar's behavior.

For some reason.

As he watched the little beggar lie on his side atop a residential roof, one hand propping up his head while the other held a chicken leg, Pei Zhizong inexplicably felt that he had an unhurried, carefree air about him.

Even though the little beggar's life was visibly miserable...

"A little beggar finding joy amid bitterness?"

After thinking for a moment, Pei Zhizong turned his gaze back to the little girl beside him.

She was a junior of the family, and by seniority, belonged to the generation of his great-great-granddaughters.

It was tradition among all families to bring out the most gifted children in the family to broaden their horizons during important occasions.

That was precisely why she had been brought onto the stage with him at this moment.

For a child who knew little of the world, the gazes and scrutiny of tens of thousands below the stage were undoubtedly a test of courage.

However.

What surprised Pei Zhizong was that she paid little attention to the gazes below, instead taking greater interest in the oddly behaving little beggar in the distance.

Pei Zhizong reached out and rubbed his junior's head.

"What?"

"Are you somewhat concerned about that little ghost?"

Then, he received his answer.

"Mhm."

"I feel like that guy is a little strange."

Her childish voice was calm, yet carried a trace of confusion.

Hearing that.

Pei Zhizong said with a smile:

"Is that so..."

"Then let's give him an opportunity."

Then he turned toward a family member at his side and quietly instructed:

"Go bring over that little beggar five hundred meters to the left, the one lying on the roof of that residence eating a chicken leg."

"Add him to the slots for the Spirit Awakening Ritual."

Then.

Before long.

Seeing someone arrive before him and tell him to hurry over for the Spirit Awakening Ritual, Ling Wuyuan held his half-eaten chicken leg and asked in utter bewilderment:

"Huh?"

"Me?"

His heart was full of confusion.

I didn't raise my hand just now...

How did I get chosen?